lawyerinfo.ca
June 21st, 2026
An estate freeze in Ontario is a highly effective tax strategy that allows business owners to lock in the current value of their company shares. By doing this, you generally freeze your future capital gains tax bill at today’s amount, while safely passing all future business growth to your children tax-free.
Building a successful private business in Ontario takes decades of incredibly hard work, late nights, and personal sacrifice. As you start thinking about retirement, you might naturally worry about how to pass your life’s work to the next generation without burdening them financially.
Under Canadian tax law, when you pass away, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) generally treats your business shares as if you sold them immediately before death. If your company has grown significantly over the years, your final estate could be hit with a massive, unexpected capital gains tax bill that forces your family to sell the business just to pay the government.
Fortunately, there is a completely legal, proactive, and highly popular strategy known as an estate freeze.
This powerful succession planning tool allows you to cap the current value of your shares today, essentially “freezing” your final tax liability, while letting your children legally benefit from all future company growth. Exploring this complex corporate reorganization early can save your family a tremendous amount of money and stress when planning for the future.
